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Article ¦ UMFOBMITY OE WORKING. ← Page 3 of 6 →
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¦ Umfobmity Oe Working.
W . M . when putting the ^ candi dates in possession of the secrets of the two first degrees ; the presentation of the working tools in the first degree ; and the explanation of the derivation of the F . G . ' s sign , in which both parties are equally wrongs ing to the ancient practice . Beyond these points and the nondelivery to the newly raised Brother of the M . M ' s badge by the Thomsonites , there are really nothing but verbal distinctions between the two systems .
When a short time since it was announced that the Prestonian lecture was to be delivered in the Grand Stewards' Lodge , many Brethren expected that they would be enabled to learn something relative to the differences between the Gilkesites and the Thomsonites , and the maimer in which the ceremonies were worked in the lime of that accomplished Masonic writer , Bro . Preston . In this , howeveir , they w ere doomed to disappointment , for in the hour and a hal ^^^
to Bro . Johnstone , it was impossible that he could do more , than give a brief abstract of a portion of Bro . Preston ' s lecture , which , if we are rightly informed , would take even an accomplished lecturer seven or eight hours to deliver . But enough was given to enahle the Brethren to discover that though the Prestonian lectures ( for
there were three of them , as at present ) were evidently the foundation of those now in rise , there were great differences of illustration between them—and the lecturer apologized for not committing them to memory , on the ground that , had he done so , it would ever after have interfered with his regular Masonic working .
It would be interesting to know who is the officer , if any , entrusted with the care of this lecture , or whether it is only in the possession of certain Brethren as private individuals . If we had a library—and the idea of endeavouring to establish one upon a proper basis appears to have been allowed silently to drop into oblivion—there we should expect to find it ; but on the last two occasions on which the lecture was delivered we believe the Brethren entrusted
with the task were indebted to the kindness of a Brother for the use of his private notes of the lecture , and that those notes were confined to the elucidation of the first Degree ; and we further hear that it was the practice of the late Bro . Laurence Thompson , whilst
holding the office of Prestonian Lecturer m the Lodge of Antiquity , to confine himself to that degree . In this respect we may , perhaps , be in error ; but wo have never yet met with a Brother who has heard the whole lecture in its integrity , though wc have met with
several who declared it was not worth hearing . We have been informed that the full delivery of Bro . Preston ' s lecture was suppressed , because it contained more of what is styled Christian Masonry than the authorities sanctioned , and that this characteristic is more strongly marked in tho third degree than in any other ; and the analysis of the third degree in Preston ' s Illustrations would seem to bear out this assertion . We hope for the sake of the Craft that it is not suppressed , but that the Most Worshi pful Grand Master , when he next appoints a Brother as Pres *
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
¦ Umfobmity Oe Working.
W . M . when putting the ^ candi dates in possession of the secrets of the two first degrees ; the presentation of the working tools in the first degree ; and the explanation of the derivation of the F . G . ' s sign , in which both parties are equally wrongs ing to the ancient practice . Beyond these points and the nondelivery to the newly raised Brother of the M . M ' s badge by the Thomsonites , there are really nothing but verbal distinctions between the two systems .
When a short time since it was announced that the Prestonian lecture was to be delivered in the Grand Stewards' Lodge , many Brethren expected that they would be enabled to learn something relative to the differences between the Gilkesites and the Thomsonites , and the maimer in which the ceremonies were worked in the lime of that accomplished Masonic writer , Bro . Preston . In this , howeveir , they w ere doomed to disappointment , for in the hour and a hal ^^^
to Bro . Johnstone , it was impossible that he could do more , than give a brief abstract of a portion of Bro . Preston ' s lecture , which , if we are rightly informed , would take even an accomplished lecturer seven or eight hours to deliver . But enough was given to enahle the Brethren to discover that though the Prestonian lectures ( for
there were three of them , as at present ) were evidently the foundation of those now in rise , there were great differences of illustration between them—and the lecturer apologized for not committing them to memory , on the ground that , had he done so , it would ever after have interfered with his regular Masonic working .
It would be interesting to know who is the officer , if any , entrusted with the care of this lecture , or whether it is only in the possession of certain Brethren as private individuals . If we had a library—and the idea of endeavouring to establish one upon a proper basis appears to have been allowed silently to drop into oblivion—there we should expect to find it ; but on the last two occasions on which the lecture was delivered we believe the Brethren entrusted
with the task were indebted to the kindness of a Brother for the use of his private notes of the lecture , and that those notes were confined to the elucidation of the first Degree ; and we further hear that it was the practice of the late Bro . Laurence Thompson , whilst
holding the office of Prestonian Lecturer m the Lodge of Antiquity , to confine himself to that degree . In this respect we may , perhaps , be in error ; but wo have never yet met with a Brother who has heard the whole lecture in its integrity , though wc have met with
several who declared it was not worth hearing . We have been informed that the full delivery of Bro . Preston ' s lecture was suppressed , because it contained more of what is styled Christian Masonry than the authorities sanctioned , and that this characteristic is more strongly marked in tho third degree than in any other ; and the analysis of the third degree in Preston ' s Illustrations would seem to bear out this assertion . We hope for the sake of the Craft that it is not suppressed , but that the Most Worshi pful Grand Master , when he next appoints a Brother as Pres *